1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rear view mirror structure for automotive vehicles. More particularly, the present invention relates to a rear view mirror structure for use by a vehicle operator to see any other vehicle in the "blind spot" that a vehicle normally has relative to a second vehicle in the lane beside.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Attempts in the art to solve the safety hazard caused by the "blind spot, " i.e. the portion of the field of vision to the rear of the vehicle that a vehicle operator normally cannot see with conventional rear view mirror structures, has been long standing in the art. A search of the records of the United States Patent and Trademark Office reveals that this problem has existed in the art practically since the advent of the enclosed automobile.
Numerous attempts to solve this problem have been made. One attempt involves altering the standard rear view mirror typically located at the upper central portion of the windshield of a vehicle. patent such as U.S. Pat. No. Re. 17,274 to E. Porter; No. 1,977,019 to F. L. Smith; and No. 2,869,425 to H. Kershaw are attempts at altering the standard rear view mirror by providing curved or angled fixed portions at the ends of the mirror.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,138 to Epstein; No. 4,832,476 to Gabrielyan; and No. 4,643,544 to Loughran represent a later attempt in the art to solve the problem by providing hingedly mounted portions at the extremity of the normally planar rear view mirror which can be adjusted by the driver to help in viewing the "blind spot" next to the automobile.
A similar prior art attempt is manifested in U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,847 to Qi Hua Gong which discloses a mirror which has a pair of extensible side mirrors adjacent to stationary center mirror.
These attempts at altering the normal rear view mirror have proved less than satisfactory because of the confusion caused the operator of the motor vehicle. The vehicle operator is concerned with the "blind spot" when performing a variety of operations connected with the operation of the vehicle. These operations may include changing lanes, passing another vehicle, or backing the vehicle, with or without an auxiliary vehicle, such as a boat or trailer, attached.
While the "blind spot" is of concern during a large number of operations, the actual percentage of time during which a vehicle operator performs these functions is very small. Yet, the aforementioned prior art devices provide the driver a view of the "blind spot" at all times, some of them with considerable distortion. This causes the operator to constantly sort out what is immediately behind, and beside him, one hundred percent of the time, when the problem is only present a much smaller percentage of the time.
Thus, the search for a solution to this problem also evidences structures directed to a rear view mirror structure of an automobile, but more commonly referred to as a side view mirror. This type mirror is only in the operator's field of vision when needed. Two representative structures are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,582,651 to J. G. Peterson, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,046 to Rodney P. Traynor. These devices have provided an advance in the attempt to solve the "blind spot" problem for the operator of the motor vehicle, but also have drawbacks. The Peterson device is not remotely operable from inside the motor vehicle by the operator. The Traynor device, while being remotely operable, is of a unnecessarily complicated and expensive construction. Thus, those in the art still sought an effective and inexpensive solution to this problem.
Another prior art structure directed to side view mirrors is the widely available convex mirror which can be glued to a normal rear view mirror. One example is the Part No. 492002 Hot Spots mirror sold by CIPA USA of Port Huron, Mich. These are sold by numerous suppliers. However, while this structure is useful to indicate that there may be a car in the blind spot, it has been found that mirrors this type lead to confusion because of the distortion caused by convex mirrors. Thus, even this simple device did not solve the problem longstanding in the prior art.